Jane Fatima Casewit is a writer, translator, and educator
who lives in Morocco. She has a background in linguistics and education and completed
her undergraduate and graduate work in France and the United Kingdom. Mrs. Casewit translated the French classic The Life and Teachings of Tierno
Bokar by Amadou Hampaté Bâ for the World Wisdom edition, A
Spirit of Tolerance: The Inspiring Life of Tierno Bokar. After many
years of teaching, translating and working on a rural girls' education project in
Morocco, she is now part of the USAID/Morocco education team.
Mrs. Casewit had
the privilege of visiting the home and family of Tierno Bokar in Bandiagara, as
well as the mosque, which has not changed since Tierno Bokar's time. She also met
the last living talibé (student) of Tierno Bokar and the former's
family who perpetuate the nobility and gnosis of the Tijani way in West Africa today.
Mrs. Casewit's interests focus on comparative religion and traditionalist studies,
particularly in the area of West African Islam and Sufism. She has published several
articles on gender in the light of tradition, including "Islamic Cosmological
Concepts of Femininity," which can be found in The
Betrayal of Tradition: Essays on the Spiritual Crisis of Modernity,
edited by Kenneth (Harry) Oldmeadow.
Mrs. Casewit lives with her husband and four children in Rabat, Morocco.
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